Certain electronic systems can be exposed to electrical overstress (EOS) events. Such events can cause damage to an electronic device as a result of the electronic device experiencing a current and/or a voltage that is beyond the specified limits of the electronic device. For example, an electronic device can experience a transient signal event, or an electrical signal lasting a short duration and having rapidly changing voltage and/or current and having high power. Transient signal events can include, for example, electrostatic discharge (ESD) events arising from an abrupt release of charge from an object or person to an electronic system, or a voltage/current spike from the electronic device's power source. In addition, EOS events can occur whether or not the device is powered.
Electrical overstress events, such as transient signal events, can damage integrated circuits (ICs) due to overvoltage conditions and high levels of power dissipation in relatively small areas of the ICs, for example. High power dissipation can increase IC temperature, and can lead to numerous problems, such as gate oxide punch-through, junction damage, metal damage, surface charge accumulation, the like, or any combination thereof.
To diagnose device failures or predict device lifespan, it can be useful to characterize EOS events, e.g., in terms of voltage, power, energy and duration. However, such characterization is difficult, for example, because the duration of some EOS events can be extremely short. Thus, there is a need to develop an EOS monitor that can detect and relay a warning, and can provide at information about EOS events that are at least semi-quantitative.